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Will the Redesigned YouTube Hurt Retailers That Use It?

Google recently unveiled a redesigned YouTube with a cleaner look and more features for users to discover and watch videos. Its motivation is obvious — keep viewers coming back for more on a regular basis and preferably keep them there for a longer period of time.

This goal, of course, is hardly unique to Google, says Hyun-Yeul Lee, assistant professor of Communiction at Boston University and expert in design, media, and technology. Companies like Google and MySpace—Lee says the site’s relaunch follows this school of thought—have taken note that online content is morphing into a type of ‘living’ magazine and online video cannot remain stagnant if it is to play a role in this shift.

So yes, a redesign makes perfect sense for YouTube, says Russ Somers, vice president of marketing for Invodo.

“YouTube needs to move beyond getting viewers to YouTube as a goal – making their revenue numbers will increasingly depend on assembling a valuable audience and keeping them there for longer periods of time.”

Unfortunately, he says, that particular goal is completely at odds with the retailers that use the site.

Namely, YouTube needs to keep its audience on, well, YouTube. Retailers that use YouTube need people to, well, leave YouTube if they are going to make a purchase.

One partial answer, according to Somers, is for retailers to create a dedicated YouTube channel for traffic- and awareness-driving purposes. “A healthy amount of the content on that YouTube channel will be designed to assist shoppers with purchase decisions, not just for brand awareness, because for a retailer nothing happens until somebody makes a purchase.”

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“because for a retailer nothing happens until somebody makes a purchase.” is an archaic way of looking at using YouTube to market IMO. I run a very large YouTube channel. We use our YouTube channel as a main marketing funnel. Our data tells us that once someone subscribes to our channel it is only a matter of time before they purchase from us. We use YouTube to share information that is complementary to our main product. Look us up: YouTube.com/SixPackShortcuts

Mike, history says that today’s archaic way of seeing things is sometimes tomorrow’s forward-thinking perspective ;) But you make a great point about video to move customers through the consideration process. I’m curious to know what percentage of first-time viewers ultimately self-qualify by becoming subscribers to your channel. By the time a viewer subscribes to any merchant’s channel, they’re highly qualified.

I expect that you book business in dollars rather than views, shares, or Lindens. That means that some point the user leaves YouTube and goes elsewhere to purchase. YouTube’s business model is driven by keeping users on the site discovering and consuming content. The redesign is intended to further that goal, which conflicts with the way most etailers think of purchase paths. Retailers should continue to market on YouTube and should design the experience (and create the content) with that conflict in mind, rather than assuming that their goals and YouTube’s goals are always in harmony.

Sounds like a fairly easy fix, actually. YouTube wants viewers to stay on YouTube, but Retailers want viewers to leave YouTube for purchases. Simple answer: YouTube needs to build tools that will help Retailers attract viewers to the site, then allow customized widgets that would allow a person to essentially shop on the Retailer’s YouTube page.

This would allow both YouTube and the Retailer get what they want, it just takes a little progressive thinking from them both.